


Now and at the Hour of our Death

by Tartlette1



Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: Angst, Deathfic, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:00:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tartlette1/pseuds/Tartlette1
Summary: In honour of Whumpuary 2021, it's something no one asked for - a death fic.   How will the rest of Bravo react to the death of one of their own.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	Now and at the Hour of our Death

Sonny complained that it was the white noise of the whirling medical equipment that crowded the ICU room that drove him crazy. But he, and they, knew that it was really the waiting that put them all on edge. They’d been waiting for several days for any sign of improvement. Any sign that their brother was coming back to them. Like Tom Petty said, waiting was the hardest part. Emotions swinging back and forth like a pendulum between blind optimism and morose despondence. 

The how didn’t matter anymore. At least not now. In the first few hours, with their rage as fresh as the blood on their hands, it had mattered. Tempers flared. Things were said, blame was laid and punches were thrown. But none of it could change the outcome. The mission was fucked from the beginning. The intel incomplete. The size of the enemy underestimated. The communications shoddy. The conditions harsh. The exfil delayed. It was a miracle that only one of them had paid the price. It could have been any of them. And they knew it. 

The members of Bravo had each lost teammates, good friends, and brothers before. They knew they would again. They refused to believe it was happening now. 

As two days became three, then four and five, life outside of the ICU went on without them. They had to rejoin it. Life commitments of children, spouses and loved ones still needed them. The job needed them. As much as it ripped their heart out to leave, they had to. They swore they’d be back, rotating the evenings amongst them. They promised that one of them would be there when Bravo Five opened his eyes again. However, sometimes the universe has different plans. 

______________________________

Brock died on a Wednesday morning. He died in a hospital without ever regaining consciousness. His condition had been fragile since the day everything went to hell. Everyone had heard what the doctors told them. That it was unlikely he’d ever regain consciousness. They knew that his parents were being presented a decision no parent should ever have to make for their child. In the end, the decision was taken out of their hands. 

An unexpected blood clot. There were no speeches. No time for tearful goodbyes, heartfelt messages, or promises. He was alone when he passed. The rest of Bravo were spread out in various directions. In important debriefing meetings, taking their children to school, caring for Brock’s dogs, working hard in physical therapy, and attached to another team tracking down every lead. 

Brock’s parents, who had spent several days and that night by their son’s bedside, had left the hospital shortly before to rest for a few hours. Staying at Brock’s townhouse, they had just pulled into the driveway when their cell phone rang. It was the ICU charge nurse giving them the news that they had been dreading since the day their beautiful, strong, and fiercely independent son first joined the Navy. He was gone. 

Knowing their son. Their flesh and blood. They instinctively knew. He had waited for them to leave. Not wanting to put his parents through the unimaginable horror of having to determine his end of life. Instead, he just slipped away, as though he manifested the blood clot by sheer force of will. Brock left the world as he lived it. Quietly, without ceremony. Sacrificing himself to spare the pain of others. 

It was left to the remaining members of Bravo to carry out Brock’s specific wishes. To bring Cerberus and Pepper to see him. To help the two loves of Brock’s life understand that he was gone. That he hadn’t just abandoned them. Rather, that his soul and spirit had passed. The two dogs sniffed at his hands and face, with small whines of confusion, and then seemingly understood and laid down across his legs and chest. 

It was too much for Full Metal. He couldn’t bear to watch any further. He retreated to his home and spent a good two days drowning his sorrows. By the time he reappeared, he’d packed away his guilt and grief, and shoved it deep down with his other nightmares. 

Sonny thought at the time that bringing Cereberus and Pepper to the hospital to see Brock’s body was the hardest part of this whole shit sandwich, FUBAR-ed, crushing devastation. Four days later, after helping to carry his brother to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery, he realized that the worst was still to come. It was there, standing under a beautiful sunny blue sky, that he watched Cerberus and Pepper lay down beside Brock’s flag-draped casket as it was lowered into the ground. It broke his heart. 

______________________________

Jason would spend the next several months questioning every decision, reviewing every piece of intel, examining every pixel of footage from that day that changed everything. In the end, it wasn’t one thing that led to the death of his brother. It was a thousand little things that went wrong along the way. Human error, bad luck, and terrible timing. But Jason would learn from all of them. He made sure to pass that knowledge on to every new recruit to come through Green Team. 

Brock’s death also brought Jason closer to his own son. He’d realized how selfish he’d been for years. Just how little he knew about Brock. He’d trusted the man with his life, had spent countless evenings carousing as a group all over the globe, yet he’d never taken the time to really get to know Brock as a friend, as a person outside of Bravo. He was making the same mistake with his own son. 

Jason accepted (after knowing and ignoring it for years because it made his life easier), that letting a hockey boarding school raise his son so soon after Alanna died, was unforgiveable. 

After facing the harsh truths that he didn’t know his son, and hadn’t been a father to his own child for most of his life, Jason began to put in the work to mend that relationship and let his son know just how much he loved him. 

He also finally delivered a long overdue apology to Ray and Clay for all the things he had said and done to hold them back, to keep them tethered to Bravo, when they had continuously demonstrated their value had outgrown the roles of Bravo 2 and Bravo 6. They had earned the right to better their lives for themselves, their futures, and their families. He would do everything he could to help them get there. Brock was watching and he wasn’t going to let him down.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I have an unfinished work out there that I really need to finish. I’ve worked myself into a bit of a corner on that one that I’m having a hard time trying to figure out how to resolve. In the meantime, here’s a little story that no one asked for. Yes, it’s a deathfic. 
> 
> I anticipate a second chapter dealing with Ray, Clay and Trent’s reaction to Brock’s death. Not sure when that chapter will be up though. Probably within the next week.


End file.
